The Kingdom of Sweets
£0.90
Light and dark – this is the destiny placed upon Natasha and Clara, the birthright bestowed on them by their godfather, the mysterious sorcerer Drosselmeyer. Clara, the favourite, grows into beauty and ease, while Natasha is cursed to live in her sister’s shadow. But one fateful Christmas Eve, Natasha gets her chance at revenge. For Drosselmeyer has returned and brought with him the Nutcracker, an enchanted present which offers entry to a deceptively beautiful world: the Kingdom of Sweets.
In this land of snow and sugar, Natasha is presented with a power far greater than Drosselmeyer: the Sugar Plum Fairy, who is also a giver of gifts . . . and a maker of dread-filled bargains. As Natasha uncovers the dark destiny laid before her birth, she must reckon with powers both earthly and magical . . . and decide to which world she truly belongs.
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Additional information
| Publisher | Transworld Digital (30 Nov. 2023) |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| File size | 5109 KB |
| Text-to-Speech | Enabled |
| Screen Reader | Supported |
| Enhanced typesetting | Enabled |
| X-Ray | Not Enabled |
| Word Wise | Enabled |
| Sticky notes | On Kindle Scribe |
| Print length | 355 pages |
| Page numbers source ISBN | 1787632369 |
by AyJay
Is it fantasy or horror? Either way I found this retelling of The Nutcracker very enjoyable; at many points chilling & dark, sometimes terrifyingly beautiful, a touch heartbreaking, a bit uplifting… a very engaging read, that was hard to put down once I’d started it.
The pacing is much smoother and the tone much darker & adult in comparison against the other recent retelling of The Nutcracker [Midnight in Everwood].
by Kirsty
A dark and twisted reimagining of the Tchaikovsky ballet, The Nutcracker, this macabre fairy tale will be unlike any you have read.
Born at Christmas, twin sisters Clara and Natasha have led distinctly separate lives since birth. Blessed and cursed by the enigmatic sorcerer Drosselmeyer, Clara was forever to be known as the Light sister, while Natasha was to be known as the Dark sister, and to live in her sister’s shadow. On Christmas Eve, the night of their seventeenth birthday, the sisters are transported to the realm of The Kingdom of Sweets, where they meet The Sugar Plum Fairy. Despite the thrilling, sickly sweet world and endless gifts, all is not as it seems and soon a door is opened to vengeance, jealousy and betrayal, changing the lives of the sisters forever.
Johansen’s novel is deeply imaginative from the offset, pulling the reader in with the haunting, poetic prose that lingers with you long after you set the book down.
The characters, in particular those of Clara and Natasha, are deeply complex. They are not always likeable and with complicated interactions with one another, this made for interesting reading. The author explores the limiting roles of women within society, the consequences of our actions and the reality of our dreams.
A grim take on a classic festive tale, this is not one to be missed for those who like a bit of darkness in their stories.
by Mrs Joanna L Park
The Kingdom of Sweets is a fantastically dark, gripping re-telling of The Nutcracker which I thoroughly enjoyed.
The story is told from the point of view of Natasha and follows two twins who have been given an unusual curse at birth. One, Clara, has been given light which means she gets everything she wants in life and everyone loves her. The other, Natasha, was given dark meaning she is essentially sidelined for her more popular twin. I ended up liking both sisters though initially felt sympathy only for Natasha as I felt she’d been handed an unfair hand. It was interesting to learn most about the sisters and to understand more about how events had effected both of them.
I really liked the setting and enjoyed exploring it alongside the characters. It’s a world that seems familiar with balls, dance cards and a women’s role seemingly only to be to marry well. It was especially interesting to see real life historical events and characters included in the story too with the author touching on the start of The Russian Revolution. I especially loved the fabulous descriptions of the Kingdom Of Sweets when they first visit as I thought it was incredibly clever to see how the author had created things with sweets.
I thought this story had a great pace to it and I was soon absorbed into the story, unable to put the book down as I wanted to find out what an earth happened next. The story does get very dark in the second half and some of the explanation as to why the twins had been separated went over my head but I feel that’s just a small niggle as I still really loved the story.
Huge thanks to Chloe from Transworld for sending me a copy of this book. Highly recommended by me.
by Mrs Joanna L Park
I absolutely loved The Kingdom of Sweets. This dark take on The Nutcracker was an excellent read. I really loved the direction this story went, I really wasn’t expecting it at all. I loved the darkness of it, it felt borderline horror without the scare!
The Kingdom of Sweets was written so well that it had me gripped, I couldn’t put it down. I loved Natasha her character was intriguing and so different to any other characters I’ve read. I found the whole concept of Light and Dark intriguing and it really played well into the story, the ending for me felt bittersweet, but it was perfect.
Highly recommend this read.
by Lynda Checkley
As a big fan or the original book by ETA Hoffmann and the ballet I was very excited to read this. And I wasn’t disappointed. It’s a very dark Gothic retelling, so definitely not one for the children. Twins Natasha and Clara are born on Christmas Day and their godfather sorcerer Drosselmeyer give Clara the gift of light and Natasha dark. As they grow Clara is beautiful, feted and somewhat spoiled whereas Natasha is considered unattractive, seems caring of those with less than her and is quite introverted. Beautifully written and conceived, and narrated by Natasha, this was the perfect example of a book with dark and light merging as we enter the Kingdom of Sweets, ruled over by the Sugar Plum Fairy.
Briefly, when the girls are approaching 17 years of age Drosselmeyer arrives at their Christmas Eve party with gifts for the girls, gifts that help send them on a self destructive journey. Natasha has been having an affair with a Prince and imagines herself in love. However, she is shocked when an announcement is made of Clara’s engagement to the Prince.
To be honest a fairytale this is not, although many fairytales do have a dark side, this goes way beyond dark. Even the descriptions of the beautiful Kingdom of Sweets, all sweet and colourful, had dark undercurrents running through it. The old adage ‘the grass isn’t always greener on the other side’ fits perfectly to the terrible choice Natasha has to make. I did find the story quite complex in parts, and a little slow in places, but the story was good enough to carry that. An enjoyable read, a magical dark fairytale that I finished in a day, although I’m still thinking about it two days later.